'Namma Yatri' to help drivers earn more

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Bengaluru-based auto booking app 'Namma Yatri' has become an open-mobility app with its aim to create an open platform where both drivers and customers are in a win-win situation.

The product's software, data and roadmap are open for public review and collaboration. Within a few months of its launch, the platform already has 43,000 drivers and 3.9 lakh customers. The drivers own and promote the platform themselves. The customers have rated it 4.8 out of 5 in Google and Apple app stores.

Namma Yatri's move aims to build trust within the community and provide collective support towards the product roadmap and vision. It will also enable collaboration with the experts and the larger ecosystem to build a sustainable transportation platform for Bengaluru. The Namma Yatri app and the tech platform are built by Juspay, which has worked on open initiatives like UPI and OCEAN.

Vimal Kumar, CEO and Founder of Juspay, said, "Digital infrastructure for mobility is a population scale problem, especially when you see the future of transportation as a multi-modal, interoperable system. Hence, mobility networks should be open and communitydriven, like the Internet. While Juspay is known for building user-friendly and large-scale tech products, Namma Yatri adds a new dimension to it - the human angle. Hence, we need to enable the driver community with products and principles to achieve customer-centricity at the level of the Mumbai dabbawalas.”

Drivers across the city have come together to support this product. Rudramurthy, General Secretary of ARDU, said, "Namma Yatri will be a boon to Bangalore. It is liberating for us, the drivers, to serve the people directly with happiness. We feel the bonding is stronger without any middlemen. Namma Yatri drivers will focus on building people's trust. We are committed to citizens' safety, good service and affordable prices."

Speaking about the initiative, Dr Pramod Varma, co-author of the Beckn Protocol and Architect behind India's digital infrastructure initiatives such as Aadhaar and UPI, said, "India has shown the world that digital innovations and open initiatives like UPI can be transformative. They improve efficiency and accelerate economic growth. I am glad that Namma Yatri, built on the Beckn open mobility initiative, is gaining traction."